Collaborative Research: Characterization of Transport Properties and Microstructures of Battery Electrolytes via In Situ Spectroscopy

在化学，生物工程，环境和运输系统部门电化学系统计划的支持下，研究人员将开发创新的原位技术来表征可充电电池的液体电解质。可充电电池是电子产品、电动汽车和电网储能中最受欢迎的储能设备之一。下一代可充电电池在快速充电和安全性方面需要出色的性能。这项工作将提供通用的方法来表征的传输性能和微观结构的电解质的电池性能至关重要。研究人员将把电池研究纳入本科生和研究生的教学课程，鼓励来自STEM代表性不足群体的学生参与研究，并通过外联活动扩大研究的影响，例如，这项工作的主要目标是开发各种通用的原位技术来表征电池电解质的传输特性和微观结构，包括原位探针束偏转（PBD），原位小角X射线散射（SAXS），欧姆显微镜和微电极阵列。具体而言，在现场PBD将被用来测量的迁移数和扩散的浓溶液理论的框架。它只需要一个实验来确定电解质的迁移数和扩散系数，而传统的方法将需要三个或四个电化学实验的组合。原位PBD还可以监测工作电池中电解质的离子浓度分布。原位SAXS将用于表征浓缩电解质的微观结构，并监测电场诱导的离子对和/或聚集体的变化。欧姆显微镜将用于测量电导率并监测由强电场诱导的电荷分离引起的电解质电导率的变化。微电极阵列将用于同时测量电解质的离子浓度和扩散率。其他补充技术，包括拉曼光谱和分子动力学模拟，将提供一个分子水平的理解之间的相互关系的微观结构和运输property.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

With the support from the Electrochemical Systems program in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, the investigators will develop innovative in situ techniques to characterize the liquid electrolyte for rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries are one of the most popular energy storage devices for electronic products, electric vehicles, and grid energy storage. The next generation of rechargeable batteries requires excellent performance in terms of fast charging and safety. This work will provide universal methods to characterize the transport property and microstructure of the electrolyte crucial to battery performance. The investigators will incorporate the battery research into their teaching curricula for undergraduate and graduate students, encourage students from underrepresented groups in STEM to participate in the research, and broaden the impact of the research through outreach activities, e.g., workshops with local school teachers on K-12 science education.The primary objectives of this work are to develop a variety of universal in situ techniques to characterize the transport property and microstructure of battery electrolytes, including in situ probe beam deflection (PBD), in situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), ohmic microscopy, and microelectrode array. Specifically, in situ PBD will be employed to measure the transference number and diffusivity in the framework of concentrated solution theory. It only requires one experiment to determine the transference number and diffusivity of the electrolyte, while traditional methods will require the combination of three or four electrochemical experiments. In situ PBD can also monitor the ionic concentration profile of the electrolyte in an operating battery. In situ SAXS will be used to characterize the microscopic structure of the concentrated electrolyte and monitor the variation of ion pairs and/or aggregates induced by the electric field. Ohmic Microscopy will be utilized to measure the conductivity and monitor the variation of electrolyte conductivity resulting from the charge separation induced by the strong electric field. A microelectrode array will be used to measure the ionic concentration and diffusivity of the electrolyte simultaneously. The other complementary techniques, including Raman spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation, will provide a molecular-level understanding of the correlation between the microstructure and transport property.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.